Words: 2,828
Date Updated: 1/14/2021
CHANGE OF PLANS: Ginny is still a year younger.
This chapter is dedicated to cowchoas. Thank you for your support. And answering a lovely guest reviewer: Unfortunately, my pairing plan so far includes Drastoria, but I may change that, but I don't think Drinny would happen. Also, this is gonna sound weird, but I have this thing where I want at least 1 review for every chapter.
Chapter 8 is missing a review, so if you drop one over there that would be awesome.
A note on this chapter: It's mostly for humour, both for you and for me. I swear I laughed twice while rereading it. Anyways, um, yeah, that's about it! So say hellohello to Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom!
Astra hurriedly pushed her cart forward, allowing her beautiful snowy Nemesis to rest and she nibbled on a rat.
Draco was next to her, his owl Imperius cooing affectionately at Nemesis and preening as he got noticed.
Imperius was, Astra mused, rather like his owner.
She spotted a gaggle of redheads making their way towards the barrier and stuck up her nose. Weasleys, the worst type of blood-traitors.
"...PACKED WITH MUGGLES…" The Weasley matriarch seemed to be saying rather loudly. The fool - Astra's father was a former Death Eater and even she knew you didn't speak like that with so many Muggles in earshot.
She rolled her eyes dispassionately and grinned at her brother.
Look, it's a Weasel. In fact, it's a whole family of them! She said through the mind link.
Ah, yes. Draco smirked as he made a move towards them.
Astra caught his hand with a little frown. We're outnumbered Draco. Let's not.
Can't I have a go at Weasel the Youngest in the train? He pleaded.
You don't even know him, Astra sighed.
Hark who's talking! Draco retorted. You just had a go at them all a second ago!
They couldn't hear me, she protested. So wait. If they aren't like their parents, we should ally ourselves with them.
Whyyyyyyyy?
They're purebloods. Astra said like it was obvious(it WAS).
"Ugh, fine…" He agreed out loud. Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a look.
"What are you two discussing now?" Lucius asked amusedly.
"Weasels," Astra and Draco said in unison.
Lucius and Narcissa exchanged another confused glance, frowned, and shrugged. "Lovely."
A little later, the twins had bade their parents goodbye and were seated in a compartment on the train, waiting for their friends' arrival.
The Greengrasses were the first to arrive. Draco waved at them as they got seated inside the compartment. "Astra!" Astoria and Daphne said.
The three hugged. "How have you been?!" The three asked in unison.
They blushed.
"Good!" Astra said.
"Alright, we've been," Astoria frowned a little. "My ancestors' blood malediction resurfaced yesterday. We think I'll be okay, but…the Healers aren't sure."
Astra sighed sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Tori."
"It's okay," Astoria shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.
"So tell me!" Daphne grinned, obviously trying to change the subject. "What have you been up to?"
"Daphne," Astra snickered, "you do realize you saw us a week ago?!"
"Eh," She laughed. "Things could have changed!"
"They haven't." Draco said, looking a little surly.
"Missing Blaise and Theo?" Astra guessed.
"Mmmh," Draco shrugged.
The compartment door opened, and a gangly, tall boy with red hair stepped into the compartment. "Hi! It's nice to meet you and you're Iris Potter and-" He stopped talking for a moment to swagger and grin "suavely", "Can I sit here?" He spotted Draco. "Who're you?"
"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," Draco introduced himself.
The redhead snickered, and Draco narrowed his eyes.
Astra winced.
She knew what was coming.
"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Draco smirked, obviously thinking himself very clever.
Weasley clenched his fists angrily and said, "Look, Iris. The Malfoys are evil. Stick with me and I'll get you away from the slimy snakes!"
Astra looked around mockingly. "I'm sorry, do you have the wrong person, here?"
"NO!" Weasley sputtered.
"I'm Astra Malfoy, Weaselbee." She sneered and waved her hands. "Have you met Potter?"
"She's YOU!" Weasley yelled. "And don't call me that!"
Draco snorted.
Astra looked behind her at her friends and brother. "Guys, am I Polyjuiced or something?"
"Nah, 'course not," Draco said.
Astoria stifled a giggle.
"Might wanna slap on some glasses, you idiot." Astra turned to Weasley, "It's obvious you're lacking in the brain cell department. And unfortunately for you, I doubt even Hogwarts can rectify that."
Weasley's face grew as red as his hair. "I-I-" He stammered. "You're a Potter! You'll be Gryffindor! You can't hang out with gits like Malfoy and Greengrass!"
"What makes you think you can dictate who I hang out with?"
"I'm not- That's not-" Weasley stuttered.
"Well then, I'd say it's about time," Astra glanced down at her watch.
"What?" Weasley asked.
Astra sneered, "for the game to end, Weasley."
"What game?" He shouted.
"This one." Astra strode up to him, her face inches away from his…
And punched him in the nose.
Then, she shoved him out of her compartment.
"You showed him!" Draco cackled.
"I did, didn't I?" Astra grinned.
"Blood traitor Weasley deserves no less," Daphne sneered. Astoria looked a bit sickened at the blood that had dripped onto the floor from Weasley's nose and Astra inwardly cursed herself. Of course Astoria didn't like blood!
"Fancy a Chocolate Frog?" The Trolley woman asked as she poked her head into the compartment.
"Yes!" Astra stood up eagerly.
She had bought around twenty chocolate frogs total when Blaise arrived.
"Blaise!" Astra was so shocked she dropped the frogs. "Shod!"
Blaise lent down to help her clean it up. "Good to know you're pleased to see me," he added a little wryly.
"I am, Blaise! And thank you." She gave him a smile. She bought six Sugar Quills and re-entered the compartment.
"Why so late?" She asked Blaise as she sat down next to Draco.
"Mother was too...busy to bring me here. I had a bit of trouble getting here on my own." He said, a little quietly, glancing away as he nibbled on a frog. Astra's blood boiled. Years of being Blaise's friend had taught her his simple mannerisms. A quiet tone of voice meant he was ashamed, sad. The odd glance meant that he wasn't telling the truth.
All of that meant that Blaise's loveless relationship with his mother had only gotten worse. Adhara Zabini was not a cruel woman. She simply paid no attention to her son which Astra honestly thought hurt Blaise more than she would have if she had abused him.
Luckily, he had at least one loving figure in his life - his maternal grandmother Anthea Zabini née Challante, who visited Blaise four times a year. Astra had only gleaned this information from Blaise through eavesdropped conversations and coaxed snippets of fond memories from Blaise of his grandmother.
Astra had always wished that somehow, her friend's mother would become kinder, or at least take some time to do something with her son instead of leaving him sad and unloved.
"Ah! Look, I got Salazar Slytherin!" Astra showed her card to the group, purposely changing the subject.
"Lucky!" Daphne said as she glanced over it.
"I got… Godric Gryffindor." Draco made a face as he pulled the card from the box. "Aren't I the unlucky one then."
Astra snorted. "Perhaps it's fate. I'm sorry Draco, but you and I will have to cut ties if the Chocolate Frog card's prophecy comes to pass."
"'The Chocolate Frog card's prophecy'," Draco mocked. "It's a Chocolate Frog card, not a bloody crystal ball."
"It could be a tarot card in disguise." Astoria joined the conversation with a giggle.
"As if," Daphne scoffed. "The tarot cards are rectangles."
"Let's not forget the complete improbability of a Chocolate Frog card secretly being a tarot card." Blaise said a little dryly.
"Mmh." Astoria glanced at him a little skeptically.
There was a moment of silence in which Astoria and Astra exchanged identical grins and Daphne and Blaise rolled their eyes while Draco watched on with a surly frown on his face.
The silence was broken when Daphne giggled. She looked mortified at the break in her rather haughty character. The expression vanished, but it was a bit too late for her. After all, her sister had caught on...
"Your face!" Astoria snorted.
"Shut up!" Daphne rolled her eyes.
"You shut up!" Astoria sent right back.
"Stupidhead!" Daphne screeched, any semblance of propriety going out the window as she subconsciously decided that around her friends wasn't the worst place to fight.
"Put a cork in it, fart-face!" Astoria obviously read too much...
"No, YOU put a bloody cork in it!" Well. Astra thought a little idly. Not a bad way to respond, but ah, wouldn't kill a soul for them to be more creative, would it, now?
"Aaaand the Great Greengrass Debate begins." She commented sarcastically, even though she was laughing inside.
The Greengrass twins stopped arguing for a second.
Then they promptly continued. Well.
This continued for the next fifteen minutes with Blaise and Draco making bets on who would cave first and Astra egging on the fight.
Eventually, though, Astoria caved. "Whatever," was her mumbled forfeit as she leaned back into the seat and sighed.
Not exactly a contract, but all's fair in love and war, she supposed.
Blaise smirked at Draco. "Galleons, Galleons," he said in a singsong voice.
Draco grumpily handed over five.
Astra threw up her hands in annoyance. "My entertainment's all gone!"
And then, with almost impeccable timing, the glass sliding doors opened again.
"Hi!"A familiar voice said.
"Hermione!" Astra nearly shouted as she leaned forward to give her friend a hug.
I'm saved!
Hermione accepted it. "Astra!" She shouted in turn when they broke apart.
"What are you doing here?" Astra asked her.
"Oh, I've been going door to door with Neville here - Neville, you can come in - helping him find his toad," Hermione said casually as a pudgy-faced boy with dark hair stepped in, a little nervously.
"Ah," Astra nodded.
Then she heard the murmuring of her friends behind her.
"What?" She whirled around, prepared to defend Hermione.
"We haven't been formally introduced yet," said Blaise with a calculating expression on his face.
He stepped forward. "Blaise Zabini, and that's Draco - Astra's brother - and that's Daphne Greengrass and her twin Astoria. You are?"
"Hermione Granger," Hermione said bravely.
"N-Neville Longbottom." Pudgy-Face looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.
"Nice to meet you." Blaise said pleasantly. "Do sit."
So hands were shaken, odd glances were given, and Hermione and Neville cautiously sat down and Astra joined them.
"So, about the toad…?" Astra prompted, trying to start a conversation. She gave Hermione a small smile.
"Trevor." Neville said. "Lost him. He jumped when I was boarding the train - he's got to be somewhere, have you seen one?"
"Sorry, no," Astoria shook her head regretfully.
"Yeah, no."
"Sorry, Longbottom."
"Nope."
Came from Astra, Draco, and Daphne.
Hermione frowned. "That's...unfortunate."
"Mudblood," Draco muttered. Astra kicked him. "Shut up!"
"I call a broom a broom." He protested.
"Don't insult Hermione!" Astra glared at her brother.
He glared right back.
"Fine," she snapped.
She turned to her friends. "So," a deceivingly easygoing smile on her face, "anyone else got a problem with muggleborns?"
Astra was met with a chorus of no's. "Lovely," she smiled again, but was more like a baring of teeth.
Hermione Granger had never had friends.
Bushy-haired nerd!
Annoying bookworm.
Oh, can't you shut up about your stupid studies Granger?
Buck-toothed beaver!
Hermione Granger? Oh, she's always got her nose in her books.
You don't want to be friends with her.
Weirdo!
What was that?
Freaky Hermione!
Sorry...we...can't hang today, Hermione.
Sorry, maybe in a few days?
How did you…
Ugh! Just stick to your books, dork!
Well, she supposed desperate people could count the ones who had been her friends in exchange for her doing their homework.
Or the ones who had befriended her on a dare.
No.
They didn't count.
They didn't care;
They didn't matter.
They didn't defend her.
Astra Malfoy did.
Astra mattered.
Astra cared.
Astra defended.
Astra counted.
"Which House do you lot think you'll end up in?" Asked Astra, mostly for Hermione's benefit.
"Slytherin!" Draco said promptly and Astra held back a snort.
"Really?" she said with mock surprise.
"Yes." Draco didn't catch the sarcasm.
She had an idea. "How about we go around in a circle and say why?"
"Sure." Everyone agreed.
"Guess that means...I'm next!" Astra smiled. "Slytherin."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Mainly because Father would skin me alive if I got into another House. Every Malfoy for the past eight generations has been a Slytherin. Lucius, Abraxas, Armand, Romulus, Marcus, Augustus...you get the idea." Astra looked thoughtful for a second. "Well, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs have married into the family. I do want to be there, though." She added.
"It's very fascinating," Hermione said, "the way you know so much about your genealogy."
"Most pureblood families require their children to study their family trees. All purebloods are related somehow - in fact, even when Astra was a Potter we were related." Draco jumped in.
"How?" Hermione leaned in closer.
"Astra's great-grandmother Euphemia Potter was a Shafiq. Grandmother Evanna Malfoy was a Shafiq also." He said.
"Wow," Hermione sat back. Her eyes raised to the ceiling, a sure sign she was pondering something. "But if most purebloods are related, then aren't they all...excuse me, no offense...inbred?"
All of the others in the compartment winced.
Neville said quietly, "kind of?"
"But not like that!" Astoria jumped in.
"It actually strengthens the magic if two distantly related people have children." Daphne added a little dreamily.
"In fact, if Draco and Astra weren't siblings, they could have had children." Blaise said with an evil smile on his face.
The Malfoy twins looked at each other in disgust and jumped away.
"Grooooooosss!" They said in unison as the rest of the kids in the compartment laughed.
"Okay, Neville, your turn," Astra said after everyone stopped laughing.
"I don't know." Neville murmured. "Gran says I should be a Gryffindor like my dad, but I think I'll be a Hufflepuff.."
"There's nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff!" Astoria said fiercely.
"I know, just Gran thinks so." Neville told her.
"But Neville," Hermione looked him in the eyes, "which House do you want to be in?"
"Any House would be okay, I think." He said honestly.
"Well, we'll be friends no matter where you go." Hermione said warmly.
"Thanks, Hermione." Neville gave her a small smile. "Guess it's your turn now, then?"
"Ravenclaw." Hermione said immediately.
"Why, mud-" Draco started to say snidely.
Astra cupped a hand over his mouth.
"Why?" Hermione repeated. "Because I have an eidetic memory and I've read every single book I can find about Hogwarts and probably know more magic than you do, and you were raised here!"
'Prove it!" Draco challenged.
"Fine!" Hermione almost shouted. She stood up and took out her wand, "Expelliarmus!"
The Chocolate Frog Draco was holding zoomed into Hermonie's arms.
Hermione smugly waved the Frog at him. She bit into it.
"Not bad," Draco said grudgingly. "Who's next?"
"Astoria!" Astra jumped in.
"Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff," Astoria said with a sheepish grin.
"Hufflepuff? I can understand Ravenclaw - you're smart, Tori - but why Hufflepuff?" Daphne asked her sister.
"I'm not cunning. At all. I'm just blunt - like an axe - and to be honest, I don't want to be a Slytherin, y'know? Hufflepuff is mellow." Astoria explained. Daphne settled back. "I suppose that makes sense."
Astoria looked relieved her sister wouldn't hate her if she got into another House.
"Your turn, Daph." Astra said quietly.
Unsurprisingly, Daphne chose Slytherin, as did Blaise.
As the group began to chat, slowly, Neville and Hermione were brought into the fold, and by the end of the train ride, a shaky friendship was established, and timelines were shifting, and surely, Astra thought, the Sortings would be quite the surprise.
AN: Next chapter scheduled for Jan 21